The Dragon Age universe is a rich tapestry of lore, complete with a truly epic history and a complex network of societies that occupy current-day Thedas. One important aspect of these societies is the religious pantheons that so often govern them—something that has come up in games before and likely will again.
What exactly the plot of Dragon Age 4 will entail remains a mystery, but given all that happened in past games, it’s hard to imagine a world in which the religious institutions of Thedas don’t play an important role. Thus, it’s time to discuss each and every established religious pantheon, past and present, in the world of Thedas.
Let’s start with what is currently the most widespread and popular religious organization in Thedas: the Chantry. The whole of the Andrastian faith is based on something called the Chant of Light, which is essentially a series of teachings from the prophet Andraste. Those who are part of the Chantry or subscribe to its teachings believe in the Maker, their one god and typically referred to as male, and adhere to the will of the Divine, a woman elected to lead the Chantry.
According to the Chant of Light, the Maker long ago created the Fade—his first world, and the spirits that inhabit the Fade were his first children. But spirits lacked a soul, and the Maker was left unsatisfied with what he’d created. So he created Thedas next, and all its inhabitants (excepting the dwarves, who are apparently not of his making). And while the Maker was pleased by his creations, who he blessed with the powers of imagination and the ability to dream of new things, Original Sin was then committed.
Jealous spirits who became the Old Gods whispered across the veil, converting mortals worship them. The Maker turned away from mankind and left the Golden City, locking away the Old Gods away underground. When Andraste became the Maker’s prophet, it is said she persuaded him to forgive his children for their sins. But when she was betrayed and burned at the stake, he turned away once again. In present-day Thedas, the Chantry preaches that only once the Chant of Light has been spread to all corners of the world will the Maker return. It also preaches that when he returns, he’ll transform Thedas into a paradise.
Evanuris is the name given to the elven pantheon of gods in Dragon Age, comprised of five gods and four goddesses, known as the “Creators.” Led by Elgar’nan, the god of god of fatherhood and vengeance, and Mythal, the goddess of motherhood and justice, the evanuris also includes Falon’Din, god of death; Dirthamen, god of secrets and knowledge, and also Falon’Din’s twin; Andruil, goddess of the hunt; Sylaise, keeper of the hearth and goddess of domestic arts; June, the master of elven crafts; Ghilan’nain, mother of the hall; and finally, Fen’Harel, the mysterious trickster god known as the Dread Wolf.
The elven pantheon has declined considerably since the fall of Elvhenan, the original civilization of elves. Once, the elven gods had temples in their names, and were fervently worshipped by their followers. In current-day Thedas, elves have but a fraction of the knowledge their ancestors did, though they try to keep to the old ways. Elves believe that the “quicklings,” or humans, caused their own people to lose immortality, and the conquest of the Tevinter Imperium seal the elves’ fate.
Centuries later, when the Chantry crushed the elves of the Dales and declared the worship of the evanuris an affront to the Maker, some elves converted to the worship of the Maker and agreed to live in ghettos called Alienages. The rest declared themselves the Dalish, and refused to submit to the Chantry’s will, becoming clans of nomads roaming the world. All that is left of the evanuris on Thesdas in the present day is old ruins, statues, and stories. However, elves do believe that Fen’Harel’s betrayal of both the evanuris and the Forgotten Ones, enemies of the evanuris whom he had also joined, is what destroyed the great elven city of Arlathan.
Solas, who is revealed to be the Dread Wolf in Dragon Age: Inquisition, also disputes the claim that the Tevinter Imperium is behind the elves’ loss of immortality: he says it was instead because of the Veil’s creation.
Then, there’s the Qun: it’s not a religion in the sense that there are no gods to follow, no places of “worship,” but it still qualifies for this list because of the fanatical devotion that Qunari give to the Qun – and the fact that there is a Qunari priesthood; they just don’t function the same as the priesthood of the Chantry does.
The Qun is a code of honor based on the writings within the Tome of Koslun (which fans will remember was once stolen by a certain Rivaini pirate). It’s a philosophy, a social structure, a set of laws, and more: the Qun is what defines Qunari society, the code that they live and die by. Qunari who abandon the Qun are branded Tal-Vashoth, and they are not welcome in Qunari society. The majority of the Qunari, those who embrace the Qun, are also essentially defined by it: their role in society is thought of as who they are, not merely what they do.
The role of every Qunari citizen is defined by the Qun, and Qunari have been known to wage wars in their dedication to “enlightening” other races to this all-encompassing philosophy. Thus, the nature of the Qun is one of the few things that the Chantry, and the Tevinter Imperium’s Imperial Chantry, agree on: to them, it’s a test of faith meant to be fought and vanquished. While the Chantry does not currently have an open conflict with the Qunari, the Imperium, and thus the Imperial Chantry, has fought with the Qunari for years.
Dwarves in Thedas believe that they are all children of the Stone, born from the earth itself. The Stone is referred to as a “she,” and while the dwarves do venerate the Stone, they don’t worship her as a god. Instead, they believe that the Stone is their progenitor, a living entity that continually guides and shelters the dwarves and provides them with gifts, including lyrium.
Dwarves who live underground possess “Stone sense,” an ability that enhances their subterranean navigation skills; dwarves believe that this sense comes from their connection to the Stone herself. When a dwarf dies, they are “returned to the Stone,” or entombed, so that they can find rest within the Stone and serve to strengthen her over the generations.
The majority of the dwarven race so deeply venerates the Stone that dwarves who leave her behind for the surface world (except those who become Grey Wardens) are cast out of dwarven society entirely. They lose their caste, and their deeds are struck from the Memories. Subterranean dwarves are so afraid of losing their Stone sense that their embassies to other nations are underground, too.
Finally, there are the Old Gods: beings who come up in other religions across Thedas (usually as enemies, or villains). Thousands of years ago, the Old Gods were worshipped by a significant amount of people on Thedas, many of them from the Tevinter Imperium. Supposedly, it’s the Old Gods who taught mortals how to wield magic, though their exact nature has never truly been defined.
The Chantry says, as mentioned before, that the Old Gods grew from jealous spirits summoned through the Veil by those they coerced into following them. Once in the mortal realm, the Old Gods took the form of dragons that ruled over the land, and peoples’ worship of them became original sin. Even the Tome of Koslun mentions them, stating that “the Old Gods were like unto dragons, as the first human kings were like unto ordinary men.” The Maker trapped the Old Gods underground in a fury over humanity’s betrayal, and because there truly are extremely powerful dragons slumbering underground (though they’ve thus far been corrupted by darkspawn), most scholars assume the Old Gods were real at some point.
In Ancient Tevinter, each Old God has temples, priesthoods, and a High Priest; together, the seven High Priests of the Old Gods were known as the Magisters Sidereal, and it was them who supposedly attempted to enter the Golden City in the Fade, only to be cast out by the Maker as darkspawn. The Old Gods are as follows: Dumat, the dragon of silence and archdemon of the First Blight; Zazikel, the dragon of chaos and archdemon of the Second Blight; Toth, the dragon of fire and archdemon of the Third Blight; Andoral, the dragon of slaves and archdemon of the Fourth Blight; Urthemiel, the dragon of beauty and archdemon of the Fifth Blight; Razikale, the dragon of mystery; and Lusacan, the dragon of night.
Currently, five out of the seven Old Gods have been destroyed after being corrupted and turned into archdemons, though it’s possible that the soul of Urthemiel is still out there due to the option of performing the Dark Ritual with Morrigan. That leaves two Old Gods, Razikale and Lusacan, still out there somewhere, slumbering. Not only that, but it’s entirely possible that the fate of one or both remaining Old Gods, as well as the Grey Wardens, may be revealed over the course of Dragon Age 4.
Dragon Age 4 is currently in development.
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